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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > Korea, South > Korean

Korean

A language of Korea, South

ISO 639-3: kor

Population	42,000,000 in Korea, South (1986). Population total all countries: 66,305,890.
Region	Also in American Samoa, Australia, Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mauritania, Mongolia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Russian Federation (Asia), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Suriname, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan.
Alternate names	Hanguk Mal, Hanguohua
Dialects	Seoul (Kangwondo, Kyonggido), Ch’ungch’ongdo (North Ch’ungch’ong, South Ch’ungch’ong), Kyongsangdo (North Kyongsangdo, South Kyongsangdo), Chollado (North Chollado, South Chollado), Cheju Island. Scholars differ as to whether or not Korean is related to Japanese. Some suggest that both languages are possibly distantly related to the Altaic group. Dialect boundaries generally correspond to provincial boundaries. Some dialects are not easily intelligible with others (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977). The suffix ‘-do’ on dialect names means ‘Province’. Comprehension of Standard Korean may be lower on Cheju Island.
Classification	Language isolate
Language use	National language.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 98% (1995 est.). Higher adult illiteracy is reported on Cheju Island. Fully developed. Bible: 1911–1993.
Writing system	Hangul script.
Comments	In 2000, the government adopted a new standard for romanization of Korean orthography. McCune-Reischauer system used previously. SOV. Buddhist, Christian.

Also spoken in:

China

Language name	Korean
Population	1,920,000 in China (2000 census). 1,200,000 monolinguals.
Region	Inner Mongolia. 46% in Hyanbian Korean Autonomous District along Tumen River, Jilin (Kirin); Heilongjiang; Liaoning.
Alternate names	Chaoxian
Language use	All domains. All ages. Positive attitude. Most also use Chinese [cmn]. A few also use Russian or Japanese.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 97%.
Comments	Classified as Korean (Chaoxian) nationality. Agriculturalists: wet rice; industrial workers; businessmen. Buddhist, Christian.

Japan

Language name	Korean
Population	670,000 in Japan (1988).
Language use	Also use Japanese.
Comments	Buddhist, Christian.

Korea, North

Language name	Korean
Population	20,000,000 in Korea, North (1986).
Dialects	Hamgyongdo (North Hamgyongdo, South Hamgyongdo), P’yong’ando (North P’yong’ando, South P’yong’ando), Hwanghaedo.
Language use	National language.
Comments	Buddhist-Confucianist, Christian.

Russian Federation (Asia)

Language name	Korean
Population	149,000 in Russian Federation (2002 census).
Language map	Eastern Asian Russia, reference number 18

Thailand

Language name	Korean
Region	Bangkok.
Comments	Buddhist, Christian.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

ALLMAN, Tod Jay, author. 2011. The Translator's Assistant: A Multilingual Natural Language Generator.  

DAHAL, B. M.; LEE, Sang Yong; SHARMA, Mohanraj, authors. 1999. Nepali - Korean dictionary.

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1975. Clause structure: Surface structure and deep structure roles.

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1978. The semantics of the Korean verb of existence.

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1980. "The referential structure of a Korean folktale: The story of Shim Chung."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1987. "A cognitive basis for discourse grammar."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1987. "Discourse functions of subject and topic."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1987. Discourse features of Korean narration.  

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1990. "The relative clause in narrative discourse."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1991. "Terms of address in Korean and American cultures."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1992. Review of: Explorations in Korean syntax and semantics, by Seok Choong Song.

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1994. "Relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and information flow in discourse."

HWANG, Shin Ja J., author. 1997. "Purpose clauses in English and Korean."

KIM, Youngho, author. 1995. Acoustic characteristics of Korean coronal stops, affricates and fricatives.